Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support or emergency grant funding her Department provides to animal welfare charities and rescue shelters experiencing high surrender rates of pets.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra meets with stakeholders regularly to understand issues and trends that are affecting the companion animal sector, including the impact of the rise in the cost of living on pet keepers and welfare organisations.
This Government does not provide grant funding to animal welfare charities and rescue shelters, however, it welcomes the support such stakeholders are providing such as through pet food banks and financial support with veterinary treatment, which is helping to reduce the pressure on pet owners and the risk of pet abandonment.
Additionally, the Codes of Practice for Dogs and Cats remind prospective owners that owning a pet is a major responsibility, including financial and time implications which should be considered before getting a pet.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what consideration has she given to the potential merits of introducing a government wide strategy to reduce overfishing in UK waters.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to maintaining or restoring fish stocks to sustainable levels whilst supporting the long-term viability of the UK fishing industry.
The Government's approach to reducing the risk of overfishing is set out through the Fisheries Act 2020, Joint Fisheries Statement and Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs), which together provide the UK's strategic framework for sustainable fisheries management. Eleven Defra-led FMPs have been published and are being implemented, with the final four due to be published this year.
Our approach is based on the best available scientific advice and supports the sustainable management of fish stocks over the long term.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Animal welfare strategy for England, published on 22 December 2025, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of dolphin hunting in the Faroe Islands on marine mammals in UK waters.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We remain committed to meeting our international obligations and continue to have concerns about the welfare and sustainability of these hunts.
In December 2025 we published the UK Cetacean Conservation Strategy with devolved governments. This includes species hunted in the Faroe Islands and aims to improve the conservation status of cetaceans in UK waters.
UK ministers and officials consistently call for an end to cetacean hunts in the Faroe Islands. As Chair of the International Whaling Commission’s Conservation Committee and Intersessional Working Group on Welfare, the UK promotes stronger protection and improved welfare for small cetaceans.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she intends to publish the consultation on a ban on caged hens.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
A UK-wide consultation on laying hen cage reform was launched on 12 January 2026 and closed on 9 March 2026. The Government is now analysing consultation responses and will publish a formal response in due course.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department's timetable is for publishing a new animal welfare strategy.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation. The Prime Minister announced that we will be publishing an animal welfare strategy later this year.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to tackle biodiversity loss.
Answered by Mary Creagh
Britain’s nature is in crisis. Nearly half of our bird species and a quarter of our mammal species are at risk of national extinction. Biodiversity has been declining at an unprecedented rate since 1970.
That is why this Government has wasted no time in announcing a rapid review of the Environmental Improvement Plan, to be completed by the end of the year, to make sure it is fit for purpose.
We will introduce a new, statutory plan to protect and restore our natural environment, delivering on our legally binding target to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he (a) has had and (b) plans to have discussions with the Scottish Government on the potential impact of the Dangerous Dogs (Designated Types) (England and Wales) Order 2023 on the transport of dogs between England and Scotland.
Answered by Mark Spencer
Defra Ministers have written regularly to Ministerial counterparts in Scotland to encourage a UK–wide approach to the ban on XL Bully type dogs. This included highlighting the implications of the ban in England and Wales on the movement of XL Bully dogs between England and Wales, and Scotland. We also offered several meetings to discuss the XL Bully ban with the Scottish Government.
Defra officials continue to engage with officials from all the devolved administrations on a weekly basis to discuss the implementation of the ban.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department spent on recruitment consultants in each of the last three years.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the cost to the public purse has been of Ministerial severance pay in her Department in each year since 1 January 2016.
Answered by Mark Spencer
Under the Ministerial and Other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991, eligible Ministers who leave office are entitled to a one off payment equivalent to one quarter of their annual salary at the point at which they leave Government.
This applies only where a Minister is under 65 and is not appointed to a ministerial office within three weeks of leaving government.
Individuals may waive the payment to which they are entitled. That is a matter for their personal discretion, but this approach has been taken in the past.
Details of such payments are published in departmental annual reports and accounts, and ministerial salaries are published on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-salary-data
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that underwater munitions clearance contractors who claim to have environmentally friendly methods of clearance, such as low order deflagration, do have the capability as claimed on their application for a licence.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Defra recognises the impact underwater noise from ordnance clearance can have on the marine environment and we have made clear in a joint position statement, published in November 2021, that quieter alternatives to loud detonations should be prioritised. The relevant regulator rigorously assesses each license application to clear unexploded ordnance from the seabed. All regulators require applicants to provide data to demonstrate the technology’s effectiveness at reducing environmental impacts, submit a detailed impact assessment, associated mitigation requirements and a robust monitoring plan, including noise monitoring, which is used to verify the technology’s effectiveness. The Government is also testing a range of alternative clearance technologies.